DUNDEE UNITED midfielder Paul brings us the latest instalment of his Scottish Cup diary having survived a near miss involving team-mate Ciftci and a groundsman's buggy.

"The gaffer knows what Nadir’s like too. One minute he’ll see him messing about. The next he’ll be sticking one in the top corner from 30 yards."

IN the build-up to a Scottish Cup Final a player’s biggest fear has to be picking up an injury.

But that thought has clearly never occurred to our mad striker Nadir Ciftci.

Just 48 hours before the most important game of our lives and the Turk decides to go on the rampage with our groundsman’s buggy at the training ground!

Nadir is absolutely mental. You should have seen all the boys running for cover. Because he’s so daft, he was liable just to run one of us over.

He’s completely off his head and drives us bonkers every day. But Nadir’s a character and he’s good to have around especially in a week like this.

I love having him at the club but if he applies himself properly he’ll eventually get a move away.

He’s the type of guy who does everything off the cuff. Every day he does something mad and leaves you shaking your head. But the boys appreciate how well he has done for us so we don’t mind a bit of banter.

Nadir and Gav Gunning are the two big jokers in the changing room.

When it gets a bit intense they bring the pressure down a peg or two and make training more of a laugh.

But we don’t dare take the mickey out of big Nadir because he’s got a short fuse. He’s also a big strong boy and I wouldn’t mess with him.

The gaffer knows what Nadir’s like too. One minute he’ll see him messing about. The next he’ll be sticking one in the top corner from 30 yards. But on a Saturday opponents know for certain that he’ll be a big threat.

When he first arrived from Holland it was Nadir, the big quiet guy.

We thought he didn’t know any English. But he was just listening and took it all in. All of a sudden he started hitting out with all the Scottish banter.

Despite his kamikaze antics at training, everyone is fighting fit. And no one is flying into daft tackles because none of the boys want to hurt a team-mate so close to the Final.

I went home last night and just tried to relax. Spending time with my daughter Alex usually does the trick.

It’s great having a laugh with her although I think she’s more nervous than me about the Final – and she’s only four. When I come in from work, it’s fantastic to have her there.

The downside is that I’ll spend most of the evening watching what she wants to see on CBeebies.

Today the gaffer will fine tune the preparation and make sure we’re ready.

Then all the boys will make their way to a hotel in Glasgow. As we’re getting closer to Saturday, I actually feel relaxed. It’s excitement more than nerves.

I’d love to think big Nadir will have the serious head on come 3pm. But, knowing the crazy joker, I doubt it.